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Rectory Meadow needs your help. The NWKCP are running volunteer days on these dates: Haymaking
Scrub Busting
All are Sundays, 10am to 1pm, except 23 September which is a Thursday and runs from 10 to 3. For more details contact: NW Kent Countryside Partnership
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On Wednesday 26th May 2004, Rick Bayne from the North West Kent Countryside Partnership led over 25 local people round the Meadow. He showed us much of the plant wildlife and explained what they were trying to achieve and the competing claims that they have to balance. The tour started at the Banckside entrance with a peramulation of the meadow - the area between the footpath and the wood. In the upper meadow are to be found the glory of the site - the orchids. The Man Orchids were in flower, he and one of the people on the tour had counted at least 30 in a relatively small space. He told us that this orchid was quite rare nationally but West Kent is one of the few places where it is to be found in any numbers. Milkwort and Birdsfoot Trefoil were plentiful too. Nestled among the flowers was a one foot sapling of the sycamore like Wild Service Tree. Rick said this presented them with a dilemma - the tree is quite rare in Britain, but it would not co-exist with the flowers. He hoped it would grow up instead in the hedge. The hedge between the footpath and the meadow also had to be cut back from time to time, so that it did not encroach on the flowers.
We then crossed the lower meadow into the wood. It had been cut only about a month before, but the grass was already very high. When the builders had dug over the ground, it had enriched the soil which was evident in the lush grass, but was not ideal for the rare chalk grassland they were trying to create. They are trying to reduce the nutrients in the soil by regular cutting and removal of the grass; it is already beginning to work, for there are far fewer nettles there. There are however still many dockleaves. The wood is home to wood anenome and yellow archangel. They have had to put the grass cut off the meadow in here, but they try to avoid smothering any plants. Fortunately recently a local farmer has taken away the grass, even though it was unsuitable for silage. Finally we went to the remainder of the meadow by Ash Road. Here they have regular "scrub busting" days to prevent the trees encroaching any further onto the grassland. They plan to leave the amount of woodland roughly similar to now, because they have been told that local people like it there. They do however want to widen the path through the wood to make it lighter, so that people will feel safer walking through there. They also hope to fence the remainder of the frontage to Ash Road, to prevent motorcyclists getting onto the land. Finally we walked back up the footpath, where the grass had been cut on either side by (I believe) the KCC footpaths people. Rick ended by reminding us of the volunteer days coming up, where all are welcome! You don't have to stay long, even a short time will help! Everyone really appreciated the tour and the weather was excellent.
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